Andrew Gottlieb, executive director of the Cape Cod Water Protection Collaborative, told steering committee members this week that he’d rather have the county at the table instead of waiting to hear what the Conservation Law Foundation and a judge might impose on Cape towns regarding wastewater infrastructure.

To that end, he’ll ask the full Collaborative, which meets July 14, to ask the county commissioners to consider reserving funds for legal work.

“It’s fair to assume there will be some litigation,” Gottlieb said July 8, adding that defendants in a potential suit brought by CLF could include the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the county. He said he might know more by next week’s meeting.

By preparing now to represent the towns, or to collaborate with them, Gottlieb said, the county could guarantee its participation in working out a solution. What’s needed is a solution that removes excess nitrogen from Cape waters without removing communities’ ability to sustain services in the process.

By being at the table, said Gottlieb, the county and communities can argue that mandates such as building regional treatment systems would have to include directives to the state Legislature to allow such options. Otherwise, towns acting on their own could be crushed under an insuperable financial burden while facing fines for non-compliance.

“Any good litigation,” Gottlieb said, “if you’re not going to win it, you have to end up with an outcome you can implement, that doesn’t break the backs of your communities.”

Gottlieb said he’d like to speak to all Cape towns to judge their interest in participating in having the county represent them in a lawsuit, collaborate as co-counsels, or just go their own way.

In Gottlieb’s view, it’s less likely that CLF will single out individual towns in a suit to address water protection issues that have national implications, such as control of non-point sources of pollution including effluent from distant septic systems flowing into bays. “CLF has a larger vision than breaking one town,” he said.

At this week’s meeting, Gottlieb introduced two consultants who will be available to assist towns regarding scientific and financial planning matters related to water protection policies. Mike Domenica, vice president of Boston’s CH2M Hill, will fill the first role and Bob Ciolek of West Hyannisport the second. Ciolek was a member of the Barnstable Comprehensive Financial Advisory Subcommittee that reviewed the town’s options for funding infrastructure. He is a former executive director of the Boston Water & Sewer Commission.